Black and White in Black and White: Images of Dignity, Hope, and Diversity in America Zoom Lecture given by Curator Douglas Keister

Park City Museum will host a Zoom lecture called Black and White in Black and White given by curator Douglas Keister on December 9th from 5-6 p.m.

Black and White in Black and White: Images of Dignity, Hope, and Diversity in America is curated by Douglas Keister, traveled by Exhibit Envoy, and presented with support from California State University, Chico. The exhibit will be on display at the Park City Museum from November 21, 2021 through January 7, 2022.

Douglas Keister has been on an Antiques Roadshow-like adventure for over a half century.

In 1965, while in high school in Lincoln, Nebraska, budding photographer Doug Keister stumbled on a few boxes containing 280 5×7 glass negatives. Little did he know that those images were taken by a then unknown Black photographer who was depicting a largely uncelebrated era of American and African American history.

Keister’s 50 years of research has revealed that the photographer, John Johnson, was documenting (among other things) the New Negro Movement in the early 20th century. The New Negro Movement sought to portray African Americans with dignity, elegance and, ultimately hope for a better future. Sixty of the photographs are now in the Smithsonian’s collection.

Keister’s lecture will trace sleuthing out the provenance of the images, explaining the New Negro Movement and telling stories about individual images. Dozens of John Johnson’s stunning images will be featured throughout his lecture.

Author/writer/photographer Douglas Keister has carved out a career traveling the world researching and documenting history and historic architecture. In the late 1980s and early 90s he was the photographer for the popular “Painted Ladies” books on effervescently painted Victorian houses. In 1995, he began photographing the iconic series of books on bungalows: The Bungalow, Inside the Bungalow and Outside the Bungalow.

Along the way he has authored and co-authored 45 books including books on Spanish Architecture, Courtyards, Storybook homes, four books on vintage trailers, six books on cemeteries and two children’s books. Drawing from his personal life and his books, he has written five novels, a memoir and a book on his John Johnson collection.

His most recent book, People, Places & Pieces of Paradise (September 2019), documents history of a different sort. The book documents the Camp Fire and its aftermath which wiped out the town of Paradise, California just 10 miles from where he lives in Chico, California.

He often gives lectures and contributes stories and photographs based on his books.

Register for this lecture